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The Pros And Cons Of Raising Minimum Wage

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An ongoing debate in today’s world is on whether or not the government should raise minimum wage. According to an ABC News article, “In 2014, 600 economists wrote a letter to President Obama and other lawmakers, urging them to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 now $7.25 an hour.” (Kim, Susan; ”Economists Weigh the Pros and Cons of a 15$ Minimum wage.”; ABC News; March 30,2016) People want a higher minimum wage to lower poverty rates; minimum wage should be enough to live off of. With the way today’s economy is, not many people are able to survive off of the little money they make from minimum wage. A 2013 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report said that “significant standard of living benefits for 16-17 million workers, assuming a minimum hourly wage of $10.10, including an estimated 900,000 people being elevated above the poverty line.” (Meverick, J.B; “What Are the Pros and Cons of Raising Minimum Wage?”; September 5, 2016) All thing considered, 900,000 people being pushed out of poverty is nothing compared to the 16.5 million other people it would supposedly help. At a first glance, it would seem that nothing wrong could come of putting a little more money in people’s pockets, but that is not entirely true. …show more content…

But the truth is, there are only “4.7% of people in minimum wage jobs rely on it.” (Wilson, Mark; “Negative Effects on Minimum Wage Laws.”; Policy Analysis No. 701; June 21, 2012; Page 3) Since the majority of people with minimum wage jobs are teenagers and very young adults and not of parents trying to support their family, most people do not need the minimum wage job. Not only that, but increasing minimum wage means less jobs and work hours, since businesses would need to make budget cuts so that they aren’t spending a lot of money on employees. Considering the state of the economy, raising minimum wage wouldn’t help much, if at

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